Sasuke's Return
by HolxMarie
Summary: It's 3 years after Sasuke's abandonment of the village, and on Sakura's 16th birthday, will a little more happen than just her getting another year older? How will Sasuke react to the new Sakura? And how will Naruto treat his old friend?
1. Sweet Sixteen?

**Sakura sighed as she looked over her shoulder, in at her party. Sweet Sixteen? Yeah. Right. It wasn't as great as she'd thought it would be, even with Naruto and Hinata so happy together. No. Because Kakashi still mentioned Sasuke when they talked about old times, and it brought her down from her happy high she'd had this morning when she'd realised it was her sixteenth birthday.**

**After hours of avoiding Kakashi and Naruto, she had excused herself from the party a while ago, needing to be alone. So she was alone now, on a walk around the village. Her lip trembled as she came to the place 3 years ago where Sasuke had left. But she refused to cry. She wasn't that weak, fragile little flower anymore.**

**She sat down on the bench where she had sat that night, smoothing out the silk skirts of the white and pink cherry blossom formal kimono she wore. She sighed, hearing 'Far Away' start in the distance, that loud was the music playing. At her party, where she couldn't stand to be.**

**Sasuke looked back behind him and sighed, then carried on up towards the village. He had unfinished plans, unfinished business. It wouldn't have been sane to leave things and pack off, not like this. He stopped in his tracks.**

**'I must be mad..'. He shuddered, looking ahead at the bright lights in the distance. Some sort of special ceremony, maybe. Then he remembered. It was Sakura's birthday tonight. He would be disturbing everyone, making a dramatic entrance...**

**He continued towards the village where he had once called home, and looked up at the Hokage's faces on the wall. Flashbacks of memories came flooding back into his head as he paced up the hill. A shadow sat on the bench ahead where Sasuke had left was the only person out right now.**

**Everyone else was enjoying Sakura's party. She was probably inside herself, drinking thingytails and such, mingling with everyone else, with Naruto, maybe she'd even came to like him...His eyes narrowed, trying to make out the person in the distance. He couldn't see her. But he knew it was a girl. Probably someone who felt like she needed to get away from Sakura's party. But who...**

**Sakura sighed, twirling a cherry blossom she'd scooped off the ground round and round between her fingers. Maybe she should go back to the party...Naruto was probably freaking out. She knew it was just because he cared about her...she knew that now. But it was still sure as annoying as hell. She chuckled to herself. She'd just done it again. Called him annoying. Just what Sasuke had said about her...twice...the second being right on this spot. The night he left.**

**She sighed, getting to her feet. But a sudden noise of feet disturbing the surface of the dirt path leading towards her. The cherry blossom slipped from her fingers, falling to the floor and shattering, a fragile thing as it was, into bits and pieces. It was undoubtedly a guy coming towards her. From a distance it looked like Sai. But he was at the party, with Ino on his arm. No. It couldn't be. Was it? Was it...Sasuke?**


	2. Reunion

**Sasuke squinted his eyes. It was Sakura. So she wasn't inside. He suddenly felt a little twinge of guilt as he saw a look of sadness flood over her eyes. She seemed troubled. Why wasn't she inside? Well, he could guess. It's because of me, isn't it... He thought. All this time. He'd been looking down on Sakura and getting in the way of her having a full and happy life. He had created a rift in their friendship.**

**By their, he meant Team 7. Formerly Team 7. Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke. Flashbacks of genin training came back to him as he blinked and made his way further up the hill. At this point Sakura was looking at him...straight at him. And as he saw her eyes widen, he knew she had recognised him. Increasing his pace to a kind of jog, Sasuke finally reached the top of the hill and stood right in front of the girl he had let down years ago when he should have been there with her. He looked at her intensely. "Hello, Sakura-chan."**

**Sakura stood, frozen on the spot as she saw the shadow figure that looked like Sasuke rapidly come more and more towards her. She knew she should move, should run. But she couldn't. It was like she was paralyzed, with his eyes boring into hers, even from the distance between them. Memories flashed into her mind. Crying over his -apparently- dead body, waking up to see he'd saved her. **

**Oh, and watching him break that guy from the wind village's arms because he'd hurt her. Back then he'd been a boy, 13 years old. Now it was 3 years later, and he was 16 like she, and undoubtedly not a boy anymore, but a young man, like she was a young woman. She knew she should be angry, should yell for Tsunade that a traitor had appeared. But she couldn't. Because it was Sasuke.**

**Finally, when he came to a stop in front of her, she looked up into his face, learning that he was now quite a bit taller than she, at least a head. Her eyes locked with his, and she heard him greet her, using her name, the way it sounded right, as always. "Sasuke-kun..." she breathed, hating herself for using the respect suffix, even if she still loved him. He'd betrayed them all.**

**Sasuke screwed up his face and his eyes filled with tears. It was almost unbelievable. Sasuke had not cried since he was a young boy...Since that night...A tear rolled down his face. He had kept his feelings bottled up all these years. Now he, Sasuke was letting it all out in tears...in front of Sakura, the girl, now almost a woman, that he loved and probably always would. He always had. **

**He had just been distracting himself with things which he thought were more important. Training, destroying his brother and everything else, until that night right here where it all changed. And now he was back in the same spot, with the same girl, and just wanted to tell her he loved her. She must think him a fool, a traitor. He shook his head and wiped away his tears. He was weak! He could not BELIEVE that he was crying!**

**Sakura felt her own bright green eyes fill with tears. "Sasuke, what are you doing here?" she asked in a whisper, tears leaking down her cheeks, joining at her chin. She, however, didn't bother to wipe hers away. They were clasped together, to resist throwing her arms around him like she wanted to. She noted that he too was crying, and wondered distantly why. Did he miss the village? **

**And if so, why hadn't he stayed like she'd asked --begged him to. And why did he taunt her now, pretending to care about her. And on the very spot where he'd left her, unconscious, cold and shaking nearly half a decade ago. By now all thoughts of calling Tsunade had faded away. She just couldn't do it, damnit. Sasuke broke through her shield of strength and reduced her to the weak little girl she had been before.**


	3. Some Things Never Change

**Sasuke turned around so his back was to her. Facing her was too hard, looking into her eyes was the most painful thing he'd experienced in years, worse than a lot of excruciating physical pain he'd felt. His tears had dried because he had clenched his fists and gained strength and control. He needed to get out what he should have done three years ago. The truth.**

**He cleared his throat. "You probably think I'm an idiot. A complete traitor. I don't blame you. But what I did was wrong and I will admit it." He paused. "But I do not regret it. You were weak, Sakura, and you wouldn't understand why I had to leave. But I'm here now to straighten things out."**

**Sakura sighed as he turned away from her, and wiped at her eyes with the sleeve of her kimono fiercely, regaining a small piece of her courage when his eyes weren't in her line of vision. Those dark eyes did mysterious things to her, took away her strength. She released her hands from each other and clenched them into fists, as he was. Not out of anger, but of frustration.**

**"I don't think you're an idiot. But I still don't understand why you left. I probably never will. And yes, I was a weak, simpering little girl. But I'm not anymore, and you don't control me." she said, her voice only shaking very little, she was proud of herself for that. "But really, I don't know what you can do to make it ok. Unless you're going to go and see Hokage Tsunade-sama."**

**Sasuke sighed. "I hadn't meant to insult you. But you need to understand that you were not the only one...that was going through a hard time. What you were experiencing...your emotions...I was going through just as much. I had an important decision to make." He took a deep breath and turned to face her again. "I am going to fix everything. I am going to go to Tsunade-sama later." This probably surprised Sakura, but he, himself, was also surprised.**

**He had never thought he would do that. But it was the only thing to do. "I have to make the right choice. But...first." He rummaged around in his satchel before pulling out a small brown leather book. It had the leaf symbol engraved in it, a bit worn now, and the spine was peeling. "Here." He handed the book to Sakura. "I wanted you to take a look at this." The book was a photo album. Sakura was yet to discover this. But she would soon. And he had carried it on his journey.**

**Sakura had raised her eyebrows curiously as he said he was going to talk to Tsunade. That was the only was he would -possibly- be accepted back into the leaf village. He would be on probation for a while, and probably tailed by Naruto and Sai every he went...but that wasn't the point. She wasn't sure if she believed that serious, untouchable Sasuke Uchiha had felt everything she had the night he had left. **

**She had felt as if she would never be the same, and that her world was falling down at her feet. "I-" she started, then sighed. She looked down at the book he offered her. She frowned and took it, looking down at the obviously old leather bound volume. "Uh, sure." she mumbled, opening to the first page, where a picture of she, Naruto, him and Kakashi-sensei was taped. "Sasuke..."**

**Sasuke sat down on the bench beside her. "No. Don't talk. Just look," he said calmly, careful not to look her in the eyes. He slung the satchel round his shoulder again as it had been before and moved a little closer to her subconsciously.**

**Sakura let out a dry chuckle. Not exactly Mr.Manners as usual. Straight to the point Sasuke. She bowed her pink head and leafed through the book, smiling vaguely at the pictures of the past, of the various happy, annoyed, exasperated and amused expressions on various people's faces. She didn't quite understand why he was showing her this. It just meant he'd thought of them when he'd been wherever he was training with Orichimaru to vanquish Itatchi. **

**But that was to be expected. You don't spend your whole life somewhere and get to know people as fellow shinobi -and friends- just to forget them, put them aside as if they never had existed. Finally, she got to the last photo, which was the most recent -her hair was short- in which the three of them were stood together just after their chunin exams. She looked up, frowning into his face. "Sasuke-kun, why are you showing me these You've thought of u here in Konoha. It wasn't surprising."**

**Sasuke looked down at his feet and shifted uncomfortably. He stood up. "I wanted to show you these because I wanted you to keep them. As something to remember me by." He swallowed and continued uneasily. "I will talk to Hokage Tsunade-sama, and try and put everything right, but I can not promise that I will always be here. There are still things to be done, far away from here, and I have to take care of those too. So If I ever disappear, I don't want you to forget."**

**Sakura got to her feet gracefully, clutching the book in her hands. She shook her head and held it out to him. "Sasuke, I don't need your genin photo album to remember you." she told him quietly and calmy, peeling his fingers out of their fists and putting the leather bound object in them. "So by things to be done...you mean killing Itachi don't you." **

**Sasuke pushed the book back into her hands. "I don't think you understood..." He said plainly. "I wanted you to keep it. Besides, there is something for you in the back. A note. But you can't read it while I am here. You must read it when I am gone." He then nodded when she made the comment about Itachi. "You must realise, Sakura, that while I would like to stay here in the village, I can not give up on everything."**


	4. Team 7 Again

**Sakura rolled her eyes slightly as his stubborn streak surfaced. Accepting she wasn't going to get him to take it with him to remember her by, she put it down on the stone bench and faced him again, lifting her chin to look him square in the eye, her pretty face expressionless. "I accept that. Itachi's done damage while you were gone. He, Diedara and Tobi attacked the village. My parents were killed."**

**Sasuke nodded. "Things have their way of getting around. I am sorry." Then he leaned in and kissed Sakura on the forehead. Just like that. He wasn't quite sure what made him do it. Then he stepped back and just stared into her eyes.**

**Sakura sighed a little light going out of her eyes, and started to say "It wasn't your fault. It wasn't just them. It wasn't as if they were targeted to anyth-" she broke off, her cheeks flushing slightly pink as he kissed her forehead. She cleared her throat uncertainly. "Uhm. Well, if you're going to talk to Tsunade-sama, you might as well come to what's left of my party. People will be wondering where I am." she said, partly to clear the air, and partly to cover her embarrassment.**

**Sasuke nodded. "You're right." He imagined the shock as everyone saw him back. The disgusted looks he would get. But he had been expecting it from everyone anyway. It's not like he thought they'd be jumping for joy when he approached. Whatever he got from them he'd just have to grit his teeth and take it with a pinch of salt. He had to be strong. He then thought of Naruto. Poor kid. He'd let him down majorly. Still, he couldn't change the past. But he COULD change the future. And he was going to get things his way.**

**Sakura grinned slightly. "I wonder what you'll think of Sai...We got a replacement on Team 7. He's an ANBU." she explained. "He's dating Ino." she thought for a moment, then plunged on, slipping her hand into Sasuke's as she lead him towards the main town square, where the fountain was. "And Naruto's with Hinata. Finally."**

**Sasuke shook his head. He wasn't sure what to make of this Sai. He then nodded when Sakura mentioned Naruto and Hinata. About time. He had hated watching them act so oblivious around each other. Naruto didn't have a clue about her and she just looked at him all the time blushing. So they'd finally come to their senses. "I think I should wait outside first." Sasuke whispered. "Alert Naruto and tell him I'm here. He can come outside. Before I show up I want to talk to him. He'll be the most shocked."**

**Sakura nodded. "I will go and tell him. Can I tell Kakashi-sensei now, or should I wait until later?" she asked, releasing his hand and taking a couple of steps back, the full moon, large and luminous, behind her. She hadn't told Sasuke about how Sai has sneered about him being a traitor of Konoha or of his annoying little 'pet' names. She laughed. "I'm sure he will. But pleasantly so."**

**Sasuke nodded. "You should tell Kakashi, yes. I'll wait here." He leant back against the wall and slipped his hands in his pockets absentmindedly. He grinned as the loud music and the bustling of laughing and voices inside that were so unaware of the fact that he was outside.**

**Sakura nodded. "Okay. He would want to know. After all, it's him that's been mentioning you all the time and bringing us d-" she broke off, realising she was blabbering and rolling her eyes at herself. "Ok. Wait here." she told him, turning away and heading back to the laughter and happiness of her sixteenth birthday party, to seek out Naruto and Kakashi-sensei.**

**Sasuke leant against the wall. He was, admittedly, a little bit nervous about the reaction of the village when they see that their traitor had returned. Okay, a LITTLE worried was an understatement. But he didn't have time to think about that any more. Sakura was back, with Naruto on her side, and Kakashi on the other. Naruto's eyes were wide like big blue orbs, and even cool, collected Kakashi looked like he was about to faint any minute. Sasuke just looked at his former buddies and waited.**

**Sakura snorted and shoved Naruto forwards, gesturing with her head in Sasuke's direction. "Go on dobe, go talk to him." she coaxed with her usual tough love attitude. Naruto scowled at Sakura briefly before looking at Sasuke. He wasn't sure whether to do what he wanted to -hug his 'former' best friend hard- or yell at him for leaving them. So he settled for just staring.**

**Sasuke nodded gingerly to break the tension but it didn't really work. It just kind of made everyone look at him in a weird way and he felt a bit stupid. This was awkward. "How have you guys been doing?" He asked after clearing his throat. This was a stupid thing to say. Oh, how have you guys been doing since I left and let all of you down and was a complete asshole? Fine, I presume? But it was really hard. He was just trying to make small talk. But he could tell by the look on Naruto's face that the questions and yelling was yet to come out.**

**Sakura bit her lip on a small smile, looking curiously at Kakashi, who seemed to be frozen. "Kakashi-sensei, what is it?" she whispered. Naruto felt a grin tug at the corners of his mouth. Was he hearing right? The great Sasuke Uchiha making guilty small talk? "We've...survived." he replied, then shook his head, launching forward and throwing his arms around the -still- taller boy.**

**Sasuke was alarmed as the hug had come unexpectedly. He patted Naruto on the back. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry." He said quietly. "I know that's nothing. I was an asshole and a traitor." He paused briefly, and looked up at Kakashi, hoping that this might get something out of him. "But I'm going to Hokage Tsunade-sama to sort things out pronto."**

**Sakura just grinned as Naruto was his typical expressive self, flinging himself on Sasuke. In the past she would have scolded him for being silly, but now was...different circumstances. Still Kakashi said nothing in reply to Sakura's question. Naruto was grinning as he stepped back from his friend, retreating to Sakura's side. He was taller than she now, something that would take getting used to.**

**But it had been rather embarrassing being shorter than the girl you admired the most. Kakashi nodded curtly in response to Sasuke's explanation, a small smirk quirking his mouth. He no longer wore his mask, his sharingan eye clear, with the scar running down through it. "Very well. You should know that you'll be followed everywhere, and you won't be able to spend time with Naruto and Sakura chan just yet."**

**Sasuke sighed. "I do realise this. And things won't be the same for a while. But I just have to try and do whatever I can." He took a deep breath, then let it back out in another sigh. "Well, when do you think I should tell everyone that I'm here?" He asked his friends, peering inside through the window at the blissfully unaware.**

**Sakura took a step forward, a stubborn look in her emerald eyes. "Now's as good time as any. And if they don't like it, they can untwist their kimonos and deal with it." she said, her eyes narrowing. Naruto eyed Sakura nervously through the corner of his eye as she said this. He hadn't seen Sakura so motivated about something since their fight with Kakashi to test out their new stills, a year ago.**

**Sasuke nodded. "Okay. So how are we gonna do this? I mean, am I gonna march in and show everyone that I'm here or are you gonna get their attention? Either way, I'm not looking forward to this." He sighed. "But it has to be done. Okay." He looked the guys in the eyes hoping for a response.**

**Sakura smiled, relieved he hadn't opposed it. "We'll take it one baby step at a time." she told him, slipping her left hand into his, and her right into Naruto's. "Come on team." she said softly, smiling ruefully up at Kakashi. "But be warned...you...um, might not like Sai. He's a lot like you. Only more annoying."**

**Sasuke grinned possibly for the first time that night. "Ah, so I have competition." When they approached the doorway he looked more nervous than ever. Maybe even more nervous than on that night. "Okay. Here we go." Sasuke squeezed Sakura's hand tight and pushed open the door.**

**Sakura blushed and shook her head, but said nothing. She took a deep breath as they pushed the door in the wall open to reveal the centre town square, where a big banner read 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY SAKURA!' and people were milling around, all older and more mature looking than before. They all froze and stared, transfixed with mixed awe, horror and shock.**

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**Ok guys...This might sound maybe, okay a lot harsh to you...But I'm gonna need at most 20 reviews before I add any more. **

**Why? Because it makes me feel as though people are actually _reading _it.**

**Thanks.  
**


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